Armstrong fires back at charges in new Walsh book

Thursday

Jun 21, 2007 at 12:01 AM

By The Associated Press

Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong said doping charges leveled in a new book by Irish writer David Walsh are recycled allegations designed to “cash in on my name and sully my reputation.”

Addressing the soon-to-be-published book, “From Lance to Landis,” Armstrong said in a statement released Wednesday, “This latest attack will be no different than the first two. …

“I responded in court to these allegations, most of which are made by a handful of grudge holders, axe grinders, and a so-called ‘expert’ whose graduate degree turned out to be by way of correspondence courses — and I proved them false,” Armstrong said.

“I was vindicated yet again.”

Walsh co-authored L.A. Confidential: The Secrets of Lance Armstrong” in 2004 with French writer Pierre Ballester and a follow-up version, “L.A. Official,” last October.

That book, as well as much of the material in the new book, is based on testimony given in a legal dispute between Armstrong and a Dallas-based company that had a bonus contract with the cyclist.

SCA Promotions sold an insurance policy to Tailwind Sports — in which Armstrong was part-owner — to pay a $5 million bonus if the American cyclist won his sixth Tour de France in 2004. Armstrong sued SCA after the promotion firm refused to pay the bonus, citing allegations in Walsh’s first book that the cyclist had used performance-enhancing drugs to win his sport’s most-grueling test.

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